


Hold Me

by Quicksilver_Maiden



Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Rape Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26406469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilver_Maiden/pseuds/Quicksilver_Maiden
Summary: What happened after Titan backed Roxanne into the van?Megamind finds out.
Relationships: Megamind/Roxanne Ritchi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: I was married to an abusive man for 9 years. Writing stories like this helps me cope when memories get rough. The stories are not analogous for my life, but the emotional responses are cathartic for me. It is not for the faint of heart, or for people who are sensitive to triggers. I never know quite how graphic I’ll be until after it’s written, so it’s going to be rated as explicit.  
> If you are in a situation that feels hopeless, get help. Walk across the whole damn country on foot if you have to, but get help. Leaving abuse is always the answer. Never go back, not even for your clothes, not even for your grandmother’s necklace. If you have to go back to get someone, bring the cops. Yes, bring the cops. Always.

Adrenaline. Fear. Gratitude. Loss. Exhilaration.

Roxanne focuses on these. On anything, really, but what Titan did between cornering her at the van and turning on the cameras. She can’t acknowledge it now, not when she’s busy trying to help Megamind keep Titan from hurting anyone else, especially Megamind.

When Megamind (Minion) is impaled, she panics. When it’s a false alarm, she is relieved, but afraid all over again, because Megamind is… he’s CHASING Titan! Her breath comes out astonished and afraid and more than a little awed. Megamind is sturdier than a human, at least she suspects he is after years of batteling a super hero of Metro Man’s calibur and surviving his own devices when they backfire, but he’s not nearly sturdy enough to stand up to Titan in a no-holds-barred dogfight. His entire life hangs on his ability to bluff.

Her relief when Titan jets is palpable enough to push aside the aches and trauma, to smile indulgently at Megamind, but then Titan is back and everything is spinning out of control again.

She rallies, gives Megamind all the help she can, but it’s not enough. It can’t possibly be enough, and then…

Megamind is going to die, splattered on the pavement, and Titan is going to finish her off and she can only hope that Minion is quiet so that he will be missed long enough for somebody to rescue him and put him back in some water somewhere… She nearly swallows her tongue in grieved terror…

And then a blue cube falls between her and her tormenter, and Megamind is there, and Titan is… well, he’s not dead, but he’s back to Hal. Hal… is awful but at least she can fight him off if she has to; and she knows handcuffs will hold him.

Megamind is gleeful, and Minion is going to be okay, and they need her to buffer the public. That’s good, that’s so good, because being needed allows her to put aside her own hurts. She can brush them away for just a little longer.

Megamind is obviously afraid of the citizenry, there’s no mistaking the fear-masked-as-anger on his face as he orders them back. She makes a pass at explaining in simple terms, because crowds always need simple terms, but she knows she needs to get him out of the limelight for a bit. He’s obviously still overdosed on adrenaline… or whatever chemical his body makes to do that job. She doesn’t know how similar his endocrine system is, or whether it’s even analogous. Sheesh, analogous? Obviously her brain will latch onto anything at the moment to delay thinking about Titan. That thought does nothing to make her feel better.

Roxanne is worried about leaving Minion in the fountain, and Megamind ends up having to scoop Minion and as much water as he can into a kind of pouch made of his spare cape, in the Hudson. It’s messy, and leaking slowly, but it will have to do.

The Hudson is still drivable, although it’s going to need quite a lot of work to make it sleek and beautiful again. Megamind, holding his cape filled with Minion, looks lost for a moment before Roxanne takes the keys.

“I’ll drive. You carry Minion,” she says. He nods, gratitude clearly written into his face and affection in the line of his shoulders.

It’s weird, driving without a door, but it’s fine. They have to open the windows on the other side to even out the pressure, and the wind is playing havoc with everything that can possibly flap or wave, but the distraction is just enough, just barely enough, to keep her rooted through tactile stimulation on the drive to the Lair. Is it still Evil Lair, she wonders?

Driving through the hologram is… disconcerting. She can’t put out her hand and make sure that the wall isn’t there until long after the nose of the car has disappeared. That will take some getting used to. She does want to get used to it, contrary to her feelings… wow. It really was today that Megamind asked for her help. It really was around lunch time that she found out that Wayne Scott wasn’t dead. It’s unbelievable how much they’ve gone through in the last six or seven hours. She hasn’t told anyone yet about what happened. She knows she needs to, she’s been through enough interviews and enough psychology training to know that, but it doesn’t make it easier. It’s also not easy to pin down who to talk to. Her crazy schedule of work-get kidnapped-call her mother to avert disaster-sleep-go back to work hasn’t made socialization easy in the last few years. She would really rather not talk to the station’s on-call shrink. She knew there hadn't been any confidentiality breaches, but there was always a chance when everyone you work with talks to the same person. Yikes.

Megamind slid out of the car, cape dripping and Minion trying not to gasp too much in the dwindling water. Roxanne watched him go, hoping everything was going to be alright. The sudden silence was deafening, and the bruises on her hips, back, and shoulders were more than cruel. She can breathe, but not too deeply; running anywhere is out of the question. Now that she had stopped, now that she was alone, the ache was bone-deep, maybe even deeper; harsh enough to stagger her, and that scared her more than she wanted to admit.

Roxanne did not want to be alone, and she did not want to go to her apartment, and she did not want to go to the hospital, and she really, really did not want to drive to her parents’ place an hour away. That really only left one option, so she followed the trail of droplets into the Lair.

Megamind stood beside a large tank in a small room, running several diagnostics on a computer attached to the filtration system. Minion had clamped his teeth around the filter output, and was forcefully opening and shutting his gills to rid them of the excess chlorine and other contaminants from the fountain.

They both glanced at her, mildly surprised but not displeased by her presence.  
She gave a little wave, and walked over.

“Everything ok?” she asked.

Megamind answered, as Minion’s mouth was full. “Of course, Minion’s a drama queen, like I said. Although he does need to clear his system of the poisons that humans put in their water. Flouride and chlorine, I ask you? Not to mention the cigarette butt I saw floating in there. It’s like people are determined to poison themselves…” a stern throat clear from Minion made Megamind flap his hands about distractedly, and go back to the readouts on the screen in front of him. “No broken bones or bruised organs, and the glass was mostly deflected by your subdermal scales, so only very minor abrasions. I’ll put a drop of amoxicillin in your tank, but you’d probably be fine anyway. I do want you to clear your system for at least ten more minutes, though. And don’t worry, I WILL drink a glass of water and eat the leftovers from last Wed-nes-day. You told me twelve times already, and I do remember: calories are important after exertion. You can run a bio-scan on me when your alternate suit is powered up, but I don’t think you’ll find anything other than bruises.”

Minion’s eyes were indulgently amused and slightly suspicious. Roxanne smiled, and followed Megamind out into the Lair.

Minion had a kitchen, around the corner from Megamind’s invention station. It was quite large, well-stocked, and the fridge was neatly arranged with pyrex dishes of various foodstuffs.

Megamind pulled out two. “Do you want the leftover oom-lets or the salsbury steak?” he asked.

Roxanne hesitated for a moment. She was becoming queasy from pain already. “I don’t think I can eat right now.”

Megamind looked at her, “I… ok.” He seemed to deflate where he stood, as though she had slapped his hand away when he offered. He looked hurt.

Roxanne tipped over the brink. Tears welled unexpectedly and uncontrollably, and coursed down her face in hot trails. Sobs tore through her, redoubling the pain in her back and chest where the bruises were only just beginning to show.

Megamind looked as though he wasn’t sure what to do with the situation, but after several tense moments he reached forward, patting her shoulder very, very lightly.

Roxanne flinched hard, then dove into his arms, hugging him tightly as wailing cries wrenched themselves free of her chest.

Megamind froze for a moment, then hugged her back. He couldn’t speak without shouting over her wails, so he just held her. She gripped him harder and cried. 

Minutes passed, and her grief and hurt continued to wring from her. Megamind was doing his best to console her and be supportive, but the longer she cried the angrier he became, until she grew somewhat quieter, and then he could not hold the words back.

His voice growled dangerously, low and menacing in a way she’d never heard it before. “What happened?”

Roxanne’s crying redoubled, her arms tightening like a vice around his back. His pained grunt made her loosen her grip, and choked off her sobs, but she still clutched his shoulders and trembled.

“Sorry,” she managed. “I didn’t mean to hurt…”

“What happened,” he cut her off. “I have never seen you this upset, Miss Ritchi, and I have been kidnapping and threatening you for seven years. What happened?!”

Roxanne curled herself in, pulling him close and tucking her face in his neck, trembling violently. She tried several times before she was able to say it, her voice barely a whisper.

Ti… Titan… He.. Hal. He… r-ra.. ra..ped mme.”

She felt the ripple in Megamind’s body. She felt his anger as a palpable thing. She’d never felt anything like this from him before, but his arms were impossibly gentle as they cradled her back and stroked her hair.

“Do you want me to kill him?” he asked, as though it were a real option. As though he would really do it.

Roxanne was startled, shocked, into pulling up, all crying cut off as she gazed at his very serious face.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said quickly. “But… but the fact that you… offered… I…” her throat closed up and she dove back against his shoulder, trying to be careful this time, knowing she had squeezed onto fresh injuries before. 

Megamind’s eyes squeezed shut, his face a mask of rage and pain, and his cheek came down to rest on her brow.

“No one should know what this feels like. I’m sorry… if I had gone with you…”

“You’d be dead,” she gasped. “You’d be dead and he’d have done it anyway and then you wouldn’t be here to hold me.”

Megamind’s arms tightened just a fraction, nestling her against him.

“Do you need medical attention?” he asked, voice soft as a down comforter. “I can give you a bio-scan without actually touching you at all.”

Roxanne clamped her lips shut over another sob, nodding reluctantly against his neck.

Gently, impossibly gently, he steered her into the med lab he used on himself.

There was no medical bed. There was what looked like a dentist chair, complete with the little neck pillow and arm rests, bolted in the middle of the room. Megamind led her to it, and said, “The chair makes me feel more in control than lying flat on a table. I hope… it’s ok for you.”

Roxanne nodded.

“You won’t need to undress for the scan. If… if you need… something treated with your clothes off, Minion will be able to do that, if you want. Or you could go to an actual doctor.”

Roxanne disengaged herself from Megamind slowly, then braced herself and sat in the chair. Her throat felt brittle, and she didn’t want to hear what her voice would do if  
she spoke.

“You shouldn’t feel anything, really, but there is an electromagnetic field and a light will flash in different wavelengths for a few seconds. The scan will take about two minutes, but you can move a bit without causing a problem. Some humans find an electromagnetic field generates an emotional response similar to panic, so let me know if it’s too intense.”

Roxanne gripped the chair’s arms hard, and closed her eyes to wait for the flashes of light.

They came breifly, in all colors and from all corners of the room, and then she could hear soft whizzes and clicks as different machines in the walls came on and went off, scanning her from head to toe. She sat as still as she could until she heard them all click back off.

Megamind stood by the door. When she opened her eyes, she could see a desperate sort of look on his face, and his hand twitched toward the readouts on the screen, but he didn’t take his eyes off her.

“Do you want the results to yourself, or do you want me to read them with you? I can also send them to your primary care doctor, if you would prefer.”

Roxanne shook her head, momentarily unsure, but looking in Megamind’s eyes made her realize she didn’t want to bear up under this alone.

Speaking felt like gargling glass. “With me. I need.. with me…” She swung her legs around gingerly, wanting to be huggged again, and he was there to meet her and help her to her feet.

“Are you sure you want me to see the readout? It won’t hide.. anything.”

Roxanne squeezed her eyes shut and nodded against him. She felt his fingers stroke through her hair, and he breathed shakily out. “Let’s sit on the couch, there’s only the one chair in here.” She nodded, and let him steer her.

In an open space, across from the kitchen, the couch was a squashy, overstuffed monstrosity of brown and yellow courderoy, but it was the most comfortable thing she had ever sat on. She nestled next to him, and he whistled shrilly for a brainbot. Following instructions, it brought a screen and loaded the readouts.

Roxanne saw a multi-colored image of herself in the chair, and several text readouts on the page. She was just reading about subdermal contusions when Megamind gasped in abject horror.

“Roxa… oh Roxanne… How can you sit here? You should be in a hospital! I’m surprised you can walk! You… how... you drove us all the way back here! Why didn’t you tell me you’re in that much pain!”

She surprises herself with the answer, but it’s out of her mouth before she even thinks about it, “I needed you too much to go anywhere else.” 

It’s true, so shockingly true, that for a moment she’s too stunned to feel anything but the sheer depth of that revelation. He gasps and gulps at the same time, nearly choking, looking at her like she’s simultaneously the most wonderful creature in the universe and the most heart-wrenching sight he’s ever seen.

“Me?” his voice is quiet, breathy, full of awe, and sorrow, and it sounds like he wants to believe her but can’t quite manage it.

She nods a little, keeping eye contact with him while pressed to his side. “There isn’t anyone else I would want with me more than you.” Megamind seems to short-circuit for just a moment.

Roxanne feels an inexorable pull, the strongest urge she’s ever had, and she wants to kiss Megamind like she wants air. She’s not going to do it, she knows it's not the right time, but her lips part and her breath hitches quietly and her eyes burn with the unrefined want in her heart. 

Megamind reads the desire there, and can’t help but be confused. How could she want him, him, after having been hurt so badly just a few hours ago? It’s staggering, and that, more than anything else, convinces him she really does want to stay with him rather than be taken care of elsewhere.

He can read the bio scan in front of them, though. He can see how many of her bones have been bruised. A few of them have tiny stress fractures where Titan’s hands dug into her. The ones on her hips are actually shaped like angry hands, curled halfway into claws. The pain from the small tears and deep-tissue bruising in her introitis must be nearly debilitating. There are more handprints… on her left calf… just under her right arm… on both of her mammary organs. Minor strains and sprains in every limb and nearly every joint, even a few tiny muscle tears, probably earned from fighting very hard against an enemy incapable of feeling pain. Then come the strait-line bruises from the metal bar Titan had wrapped around her instead of rope. Two of her ribs are slightly dislocated from her sternum, another one from her spine, and a few more are cracked. She must be having trouble breathing deeply, and moving her neck more than twenty seven degrees would feel like hauling a heavy weight. She doesn’t have a concussion, thankfully, but she probably has a headache. He’s… stunned. He has to try to convince her to see a doctor!

“You’d rather stay here than get… Roxanne, you need care! Some of these injuries might even require minor surgery!”

Minion chose that moment to come forward, in a much smaller suit that looked more like a hellhound than a gorilla. “Sir? Miss Ritchi? Is everything all right? It’s just, I heard the commotion, but my suit wasn’t ready yet...”

Megamind froze, looking over at Roxanne. She looked at him, and made up her mind. Minion was Minion, he could know.

“Titan.. hurt me. Megamind was showing me the scan, if you want to see.”

Minion looked slightly taken aback, but moved to look at the screen. She could see his jaw fall, his expression cloud, then it shifted and his teeth weren’t just showing, they were bared.

“I’ll bite him!” he shouted, swimming in circles. “I’ll bite him! I’ll bite him!”

“Minion, we need to take care of Miss Ritchi before we do anything like that.”

Minion stopped thrashing, and for just a moment Roxanne believed he might be capable of the violence he spoke of, if someone he loved was in danger.

“You need your limbs bound, and your ribs set, and painkillers, and food and sleep,” pronounced the fish. “In that order.”

Without waiting for an answer, the quadrupedal suit bounded away, back into Megamind’s infirmary.

Roxanne watched Minion return a moment later with enough athletic bandages to swath an army, carried in the steel jaws below his dome.

“Sir, Miss Ritchi, you’re going to have to manage the application. Without my hands I can’t put them on, but Sir you must use the diagrams we’ve been over. Not the modified ones, the originals.”

“Yes, filet minion. I know them.” He looked at Roxanne, still tucked quiescent against him, and asked. “Are you ready to be taken care of, just a bit?”

Roxanne nodded, lifting her left foot slightly, angling her body away from him and placing the appendage in his lap. After a few painful movements, she settled back, allowing him access to her feet, allowing him to remove her shoes.

Megamind started wrapping her ankles. The jeans would have to be rolled up or removed for her knees, of which the left one was the worst strain by far, but he started with her ankles, wrapping each one very slowly.

“We’ll want to ice these, Minion. Have a brain bot put together a few ice packs.”

“On it, Sir,” came the answer, as the suit carried Minion across the floor into the kitchen. 

“I’m sorry if you feel bullied into anything. Minion is very protective, and he wants to make you well, in any way he can.”

Roxanne felt herself give a weak, watery smile. “I… felt that. It’s a good thing, now. I don’t think I could have done it before, though. I… I really needed you, and you were there.” Tears trailed down her face again, but they were quieter, less desperate. “Thank you.”

Megamind nodded, still wrapping her ankle slowly, precisely. Lovingly.

Roxanne knew, logically, that when Megamind finished with her ankles he would have to move up, but she wasn’t prepared for the reality of it. The slow roll of the fabric up her leg felt like an invasion.

“Stop.” she said, just above a whisper. Megamind heard her. “I can’t… I don’t want… them to be rolled… I need to change.”

“Should I have a brainbot go to your apartment, and get some of your more comfortable clothes for you to change into?” he asked. “I really don’t have much other than leather or pajamas.”

Roxanne didn’t want to wear shorts. She didn’t want to ever wear shorts again, but she knew, at least this once, she needed to. Slowly rolling up longer pants was worse, even when the rolling was done by someone she trusted.

“My pajama sets are in the top left drawer. I’ll need a shirt and… and shorts. For this. But! But I’ll want long pants after.”

She saw him nod, and another brainbot came at his whistle.

“I want my pillow, too,” she said, after Megamind had given the instructions. “The one in the cotton pillowcase, not the others.”

The brainbot looked over at her, gave an affirmative-sounding ‘Bowg’ and then flew off, recruiting two others as it went.

Megamind’s fingers ran gently, soothingly over her bare feet, a thoughtful look on his face. Roxanne appreciated the gesture, but for some reason touching her feet felt more intimate than touching her shoulder had, and she wasn’t ready for that.

“Minion should scan you, while the brainbots fetch my clothes. Then we can finish with me.”

Megamind looked like that idea might break his heart, but he couldn’t argue with her, not after everything she’d been through.

“I’ll be right back, then. Call if you… if you need anything.”

Roxanne nodded, and watched him walk away, the brainbot with the screen following him. When he passed out of view, a wave of apprehension stole over her. The pain seemed to increase, exponentially, and Titan-Hal’s angry, power-mad eyes seemed to be staring at her from whichever direction she wasn’t looking in. She wrapped her arms around herself, huddling down into the back of the couch and trying very hard not to scream. Closing her eyes made it worse, so she sat there, watching the large, empty room with its black and steel kitchen appliances and the worn, black formica countertops. The room was, at least, well-lit from above.

Three minutes later, Megamind and Minion came back from his scan. Roxanne vaulted off the couch and into his arms, and he made a surprised noise.

“Miss Ritchi! You shouldn’t be up!” exclaimed Minion.

Roxanne didn’t answer, clinging to Megamind and crying uncontrollably. Megamind’s mouth twisted, his expression pained and guilty.

Megamind’s voice was quiet, nearly a whisper against her hair, “I think it’s more important that she not be alone, Minion, not right now.” Roxanne nodded against his shoulder. “Let’s sit again, Miss Ritchi. I can wrap your wrists, at least, and Minion will get you something for the pain.”

“Tylenol,” she whispered. “If you have it. I don’t want anything that’ll force me to sleep.”

Megamind nodded, and helped them both back onto the couch.

“How are you?” asked Roxanne, fighting the tears down.

Megamind hesitated breifly, then called for the brainbot to show his scan.

“I’m mostly fine, some deep contusions and a few abraisions, but they’re half-healed already. Some of this might not make sense, it’s not exactly… what you would see for a human.”

Roxanne hunkered down next to him, and said “I don’t care if you’re a Heffalump, I just care if you’re okay.” 

His brow furrowed, and he searched her eyes, “If I’m a… what? What is that?”

Roxanne was startled, having not really expected a reply to her disregard for his inhumanity. “Oh, um, you’ve never seen that, have you? We should watch that, sometime, even though it’s not really for adults, but if we ever get the chance. It’s a cute…” Roxanne’s face took on a look of determination. “No, not if we get the chance, I want to watch that silly, ridiculous, utterly cute and innocent movie with you, right now. I want that. Minion?”

“Yes, Miss Ritchi?” the fish perked up, sensing an incoming request.

“I don’t care how, but if there’s any way you could make it happen, I would like to watch Winnie the Pooh’s Heffalump Movie. Preferably without moving from this spot. I… actually I have a DVD copy, from when my niece visited. The brainbots should be able to get that from my apartment, too. It’s on the shelf under my TV in the living room.”

Minion nodded his little body, and took a few steps away from the couch to contact the brainbots via his suit’s communicator. A brainbot showed up, giving her two little white pills and a small cup of water.

“Heffalump?” inquired Megamind when she had taken the pills and the brainbot had run off with the empty cup.

Roxanne snuggled gently into his side. “It’s a made-up word for a child’s stuffed-toy elephant. I… just meant I don’t care if you’re human or not.”

Megamind’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t seem offended. He waved the brainbot with the screen over, and brought up the scan.

Just like hers, an image of Megamind’s body showed in many colors, though his were more reds and blues while hers had been more yellows and pinks.

The readouts did indeed show more bruises and cuts rather than fractures and dislocations, but Roxanne read through it all just to be sure while Megamind applied Ace bandages to her wrists, and then to her elbows..

Brainbots had come and applied small ice packs to her ankles, holding them there for exactly fifteen minutes before taking them back to the freezer, under the watchful eyes of Minion. When Megamind had finished with her arms, four brainbots did the same there. It was a little weird, having four of them that close to her face, but Megamind was next to her and the novelty of the experience was a bit of a distraction from the pain.

A brainbot moved forward, dangling a t-shirt and shorts from its shrimp-like pincers, and Roxanne reached out to take them, scooting as if she were going to stand.

“Wait!” said Megamind, halting her. “You shouldn’t walk more than you have to, and the brainbots are more than capable of dressing you. I trained them to change me in a matter of moments, behind a screen,” he turned an shouted, “Dressing squad!”

Roxanne balked, “I don’t want help changing my clothes.”

Megamind pulled back a bit. “Of course, I know, I didn’t either, but you can’t stand and walk on those sprains. The brainbots don’t have any human brain tissue, it’s canine, or sometimes feline, and there are a few raccoons and squirrels, but nothing that would recognize being undressed as being vulneraahble.”

Roxanne was momentarily comforted by the thought that the brainbots were animals. Animals didn’t really care if you were naked, they were naked all the time and didn’t mind. Until she realized what Megamind had said before that. He couldn’t… surely not… he… no. No! Oh, don’t say anything, he probably didn’t mean to say it… especially if the half-panicked look in his eyes is anything to go by.

“I guess that’ll work. I don’t want to, but I will let them dress me.”

Several brainbots appeared, carrying a black curtain held from a metal hoop. It dropped over and around her, and two brainbots came up that had tiny hands with fingers instead of the claws and pincers most of them had. They grasped the ends of her shirt, and lifted slowly, one on each side of her, and she raised her arms. The instant her tank top was off, the t-shirt was going on. She did have to stand for the pants, but it was done so quickly it almost felt like it hadn’t happened. In less than a minute the Dressing Squad had finished and moved away, leaving Roxanne in a t-shirt and shorts. She sat immediately, curling her side into Megamind’s for a moment, and he didn’t seem to want to pull away.

After a few moments, though, she reached for a bandage and handed it to him, shuffling slightly so he could wrap her knees. He did it much more quickly than he had the other wraps, and was careful not to touch her too much. As he was finishing, Minion rolled in what looked almost like a chalkboard at first glance, but turned out to be an enormous flatscreen bolted into a frame. He plugged it in, and slid the DVD into it. 

At the same time, Brainbots brought the two dishes Megamind had pulled from the fridge earlier, warmed and ready. Roxanne took the leftover omelets, finding them stuffed to the brim with sausage, cheese, and vegetables.

Brainbots brought ice in turns for Roxanne’s injuries through the movie, and she began to feel progressively colder as each ice pack was taken away and another applied to a different injury.

Megamind seemed caught up in the plight of the little heffalump. He was nearly breathless, oblivious to his surroundings, and he looked like his world had been shaken from its foundations when everyone came out friends in the end.

Roxanne was still pressed to Megamind’s side, and as the credits rolled he jumped slightly and turned to her, “You’re shivering, are you in shock?” he asked. “I’ll have to see your torso, make sure there’s no internal bleeding, but your scan didn’t pick that up…”

Roxanne laid her hand over his, drawing his eyes, “Icepacks. I’ve had icepacks on various parts of me for over an hour.”

Megamind blinked, and visibly relaxed though the worried look didn’t fade from his eyes. “Brainbots, bring a blanket for Miss Ritchi. The best one,” he spoke into his wrist. Roxanne’s face pinched slightly at seeing the watch, but she decided to ignore it.

“Actually, I think a bed might be what I want.”

Megamind blinked, his ears turning purple. “Do you want that here, or at your apartment?”

“I don’t care, really, but I don’t think I’m prepared to be alone. I.. I’m sorry, I know I’m imposing…”

Megamind cut her off, “No you’re not, Miss Ritchi. You can’t impose when you’ve been invited and where you’re wanted. If you want to hide in Evil Lair for the next month before going back in public, then it’s yours. If..” he blushed, “If you want to live here, even, you’re most welcome.”

Minion’s mouth opened, his fins flicking in surprise, but after a moment, his face morphed into an expression of determination and he nodded.

Roxanne hugged Megamind tightly, tears once again coursing down her face, though gratitude was mixed into the sorrow and pain because the kindness of the aliens in front of her was greater than the cruelty of the man they had saved her from.

“Yes,” she whispered, “Yes, I’d like to stay, at least for tonight. I.. I can’t… I don’t want to go anywhere, and I’m so tired. I want to sleep, but I’m… I’m afraid to.”

Megamind’s eyes closed in pain, his heart breaking all over again to hear the indomitable Miss Ritchi admit to being unable to sleep from terror. A terror he had, at least inadvertently, caused by refusing to defuse Hal before the transformation.

“You were right, Minion.” He spoke softly, Roxanne tucked into his side. “You knew what a foolhardy thing it was to allow an accident to choose the Hero. You were right, even before that, that the idea was a truly bad one. I didn’t listen, and this whole city has paid dearly for my mistake, and Roxanne has paid the most vile price of all, and it’s entirely my fault!” his voice was cracking. “People died today, Minion. It’s my fault. I don’t know what to do with that. I’ve never killed anyone… never forced… I don’t know how to fix this!” a sob broke from him. “I’m so sorry, Roxanne. I can’t… I can’t make it not true, but I would give my life to do just that, if I could. I’m sorry, I really am, and I don’t know what to do to help. I’ve hurt everyone in this city, not just scared them, I’ve hurt them, by releasing a rabid animal with Metro Man’s powers who never should have existed! It’s entirely my fault!”

Roxanne held him, just as he held her, and she began to shush him as he cried, even though she was still in the midst of crying as well. “I don’t blame you, Megamind. I… I think you’re a sweetheart, and you were lonely and wanted to go back to something that was familiar. I know you never meant for any of these things to happen.”

Minion was gaping, his eyes huge and startled. Megamind was apologizing? He had never heard such a thing. And he was crying? Megamind hadn’t cried since he was three! His beloved Sir was taking responsibility for his actions? And Miss Ritchi, their serial kidnappee, was telling him it wasn’t his fault? There were two or three minutes while Minion was frozen, looking at their interaction like a combination between a car wreck and watching someone blow glass.

Megamind was shaking his head as Roxanne tried to comfort him, crying and apologizing. Minion slowly backed away, retreating to allow them some time. He signaled the brainbots to withdraw also, though he did not go far enough to miss a scream or loud cry.

“Even if you did give him powers, Hal made his own choices. He’s always been a creep, and today he crossed the line, in more ways than one. You didn’t make him do it, and you didn’t push him toward it.”

“But I made it possible! It’s my fault!”

“You fixed it, you beat him…”

“I can’t bring back the people he killed! I can’t undo the harm he visited on you..”

“I love you anyway!”

Megamind froze for several seconds, then pulled back slightly to look at her face.

“I love you too,” he whispered, awe and hope in his voice. “But I thought you would never be with me.”

“Megamind, I was hurt that you had deceived me, but I thought about it on the way home that night. I wouldn’t ever have given you a chance if you had come to me as yourself. But.. I do like spending time with you. I loved you, when you were pretending to be Bernard, but I should have known something was wrong. Bernard doesn’t have green eyes, and he’s never been anything but bored and annoyed. I’ve known him peripherally for years, and never wanted to spend more time with him than I had to for work. You didn’t even bother to disguise your voice, you used your regular voice and I should know what that sounds like after all these years of listening to you monologue.

"I guess, what I mean is, I knew it wasn’t like him to behave that way, and I should have questioned it more. I do wish you had told me, and I’m not happy about the deception, but… but that doesn’t change the fact that I fell in love. I fell in love with your exhuberance, and your childlike joy, and your intellect, and your stupid, silly training wheels and your funny stories. And all of those things are still here, you’re still here.”

Megamind shuddered, his fingers tightening slightly in the back of her shirt. “I love you, Roxanne. I never meant to, but once it was in motion I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t know how to tell you, or even if I would be able to. I fell in love with you so much I can’t describe it… I shouldn’t have continued that charade so long, but… I really couldn’t help wanting to be near you without having to kidnap you to accomplish it. I liked having you smile when you saw me, even if you didn’t know it was me.”

Roxanne smiled in a wobbly way. “I would really like it if you would kiss me, now.” she whispered. Right times be damned.

Megamind gasped and blinked in amazement, and moved forward quickly, but checked himself at the last moment, pressing his lips to hers slowly, sweetly.

Roxanne hummed happily, even as tears leaked from her eyes. She pressed her battered body softly into Megamind’s as their lips pressed gently. It would have been considered chaste, but for the wildfire of want behind it.

After a long moment, Roxanne pulled back. “I want you, Megamind, but I’m… not able… not yet.”

Megamind reached out, cupping her jaw with both hands. “You’ve given me more than I ever dared to let myself dream of. If you never give me more than this, I will be happy just to kiss you every time you let me.”

Tears rolled down Roxanne’s cheeks in hot rivers, and she ducked her head under his chin, clinging tightly as her heartbreak was touched, fresh pain and relief sounding simultaneously in her overwrought mind.

“Take me to bed, Megamind. Take me to your bed, and let me sleep. I can’t give you more tonight, and maybe not for a long time, but take me there anyway and hold me while I sleep.”

Megamind scooped her closer, pulling her legs over his lap so he could stand with her in his arms. She gasped softly at being lifted, it wasn’t what she had expected, but she didn’t fight it or try to stand.

Megamind walked slowly to his room, unbothered by Roxanne’s weight in his arms. He toed open his door, and pushed it open further, only slightly jostling the woman in his arms.

His bed was full-size, the top pushed up against one wall with a black leather headboard. Black cotton sheets and a blue quilt with his logo over it were in place, along with ten body-sized feather pillows in black cases. The walls and concrete floor were also blue, and the dresser was, laughably, polished steel with shiny, buffed spikes. 

The bed, when he set her down, was very deep, and she marveled for a moment at the sensation. Her mattress was nice, but it wasn’t 15 inches of memory foam. As she lay down, she felt nearly weightless and all the tension leaked out of her body despite the pain.

Roxanne breathed in as deeply as she could with her aching ribs, and let it go slowly, feeling sleep steal over her before her eyes were even completely shut, exhaustion winning out over fear and pain.


	2. Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxanne's revelation causes a long-held secret to break out of its box.

Roxane woke slowly, finding pain in almost every inch of her body. She fought down a groan, but couldn’t couldn't suppress the huff of her breath.

Megamind’s voice was close and soft when he spoke. “Are you awake?”

Roxanne hummed an affirmative and covered her closed eyes against the soft glow of a dim lamp. “I don’t know if I want to be.”

She could practically hear Megamind frown. “Do you want something to make you sleep?” His voice held something remarkably close to disappointment.

“No, but I don’t want to be in this much pain either. I think it’s what woke me up.”

She heard him move, stand and walk across the room. She opened her eyes when he opened the door, and saw him step out, leaving the door ajar.

He was only gone for a moment, before he came back in, followed by the quadrupedally attired Minion and two brainbots that stayed just outside the door.

It was Minion who spoke first, "Miss Ritchi, I know you're hurting, but now would be the best time to set your ribs, your muscles are as relaxed as possible just as you wake up. We should have done it last night, but with everything else, I just.."  
She grimaced the best smile she could muster at Minion's rambling, and said "Hush, Minion, you did everything I let you, and I didn't want to do that last night. I've been adjusted for dislocated ribs several times, by my chiropractor. It's a recurring problem, but it's probably why I didn't end up with a punctured lung from a broken rib. Dislocated ribs are unpleasant, but not life threatening."  
Minion bobbed uncomfortably in his tank, digesting her words.  
Megamind placed a hand on the little fish's mechanical shoulder.

"Would you like me to take you to your chiropractor today? That would honestly be a better idea than us trying. I looked it up while you were asleep, but that’s no substitute for experience.”

Roxanne hesitated, “That would probably be wise, but what I really want right now is another round of Tylenol. What time is it?”

Minion answered, “It’s four thirty, Ma’am. It’s been nine hours since you had the pills, so I’m not surprised they wore off. I sent a brainot for the tylenol and some water for you…” as he spoke the brainbot came through the door, bowging nervously. Being allowed in Daddy’s room was a special treat, and 89B7 was struggling to remain dignified.

Roxanne had difficulty sitting up, her ribs and arms protesting against bearing her weight and her hips screaming. Megamind moved to help, but hesitated, unsure where to touch. Roxanne held out her hand to the brainbot when she was upright, her legs thrown over the side of the bed and her body hunched forward.

She downed the pills, handed the cup back. “I need to eat something, or the pills will make me throw up in a few minutes.”

Minion gasped in understanding, and rushed out to heat up more leftovers. 

Megamind hovered uncertainly, until Roxanne reached out and took his hand. He sat next to her and wrapped his free arm lightly around her shoulders.

Roxanne turned into him, pressing her face into his neck and shoulder, wanting to compress the whole world into a single point of gentle sensation.

She turned further, pulling herself more fully into his arms, a whimper escaping as he tightened his hold.

Megamind gasped, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt…”

Roxanne pulled her head up and cut him off with a kiss. Her lips were desperate, begging for comfort rather than stimulation, and he softly chafed his hands over her upper arms as he kissed her slowly.

After a minute, he pulled back, placing one hand on her face and stroking his thumb across her cheek to let her know he wasn’t rejecting her.

His voice was soft when he spoke. “I don’t know everything you’re feeling, Roxanne, but I’m… I know some of it. I want to give you what you need, but I don’t want to let you do something you’ll regret in a month, or a year. I… I did… when… and it’s not… good. Not helpful in the long run.”

Roxanne’s face crumpled, and she moved her head back to the juncture of his neck, hands fisted in his shirt so she could pull him as close as possible.

“I’m sorry for reminding you of that, I had no idea. I’m sorry you had to go through it. You were right, yesterday. No one should know what this feels like.”

Megamind fought tears, his breath coming in huffs against her hair, voice barely a whisper. He could barely speak, and yet the words were forcing their way out, spewed forth from the iron prison he had made so long ago in his heart. “It was… I…” he wrestled, trying to swallow the sound of his own voice, dreading the release of so much of himself. “I grew up in a prison, Roxanne. It wasn’t just once…"

Roxanne sat up, horror in her shocked eyes, unaware of the hot tears streaming down the sides of her face. Her trembling fingertips cradled his cheeks as his tears finally escaped. He struggled to hold her gaze, to let her see his pain. She had been so brave to share hers when it was so fresh, and he had lain awake most of the night, wondering if he could let someone in, if he could be that brave.

Roxane would be the perfect person, really. They loved each other, they had already shared some fairly dangerous and disastrous experiences. Oh, but showing weakness was a very dangerous proposition. He knew that things were different in the lair than in prison, but this was something he hadn’t even shared with Minion. Only a very few of his Uncles knew about what had happened to him, and that knowledge was split between them. Nobody knew it all. And nobody, absolutely no one, had seen him express this. He had made very sure of that.

“Most people don’t know,” he whispered through his tears. “Even the Warden doesn’t know for certain. Minion doesn’t know about most of it, although he may have guessed more than I’ve told him.” Megamind took a wet, shuddering breath, and locked eyes with her. “I… want somebody t..to know, but.. I don… don’t know… how to…” his throat closed, and although he tried, he couldn’t speak passed the blockage. His breath came faster, and his tears came harder and a ragged sob ripped itself from his chest and Roxanne hugged him tightly against her, stroking his head and crying too.

He choked out more words, fighting his throat for each one. “I’m sorry. I know you’re hurting. I know you need me. I’m sorry. I’m trying. You don’t need this…”

Roxanne moved, pulling him along, shifting them so they were laying on the bed, cradling each other.

She pulled his face to hers, and let him see her own tears. Her voice was rough but she whispered, “Hush, now, and let yourself cry. We both need to heal, and I’d rather do it together than alone.”

Megamind made a noise like a wounded animal, keening high and desperate as he struggled to hold her lightly while crying so hard he couldn’t see.

Minion galloped into the room, steel-clawed feet leaving gouges in the concrete as he rushed to the sound of Megamind’s wail. Roxanne looked over Megamind’s heaving form and locked eyes with the little fish. She’d never seen him look so desperately worried.

Roxanne couldn’t speak through her own tears anymore either, but the way Megamind was clinging to her told Minion enough. His Sir was breaking, and Miss Ritchi was splinting the cracks


End file.
